{"id":4679,"date":"2025-09-14T21:32:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/?p=4679"},"modified":"2025-09-14T21:32:45","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T21:32:45","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-soundtrack-hits-no-1-on-the-billboard-200","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/?p=4679","title":{"rendered":"\u2018KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 Soundtrack Hits No. 1 on the Billboard\u00a0200"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<script>\r\nif( document.getElementById( \"builder-styles-css\" ) ) document.getElementById( \"builder-styles-css\" ).insertAdjacentHTML( \"beforebegin\", \"<link rel='stylesheet' href='https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/wp-content\/themes\/themify-music\/themify\/themify-builder\/css\/themify-builder-style.css' type='text\/css' \/>\" );\r\n<\/script>\r\n\t\t\t\n<p>Plus: Justin Bieber&#8217;s\u00a0<em>SWAG<\/em>\u00a0surges to the top five after its deluxe reissue and sombr&#8217;s\u00a0<em>I Barely Know Her<\/em>\u00a0hits the top 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soundtrack to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/t\/netflix\/\">Netflix<\/a>\u2019s animated film\u00a0<em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>\u00a0hits No. 1 on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/charts\/billboard-200\/\">Billboard 200<\/a>\u00a0albums chart for the first time, rising 2-1 on the chart dated Sept. 20, after seven nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up slot. The set earned 128,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Sept. 11 (up 7%), according to Luminate, marking the album\u2019s best week yet. The surge to No. 1 follows the album\u2019s deluxe reissue on Sept. 5 with additional tracks, plus the wide release of its CD that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>\u2019 rise to No. 1 on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/t\/billboard-200\/\">Billboard 200<\/a>\u00a0was preceded by four top 10-charted hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart \u2014 the most from a soundtrack in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/soundtracks-three-hot-100-top-10s\/\">nearly 30 years,<\/a>\u00a0with the soundtrack the first ever with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/lists\/huntr-x-golden-hot-100-number-one-second-week\/\">four simultaneous top 10s<\/a>. Among those is the No. 1 \u201cGolden\u201d by HUNTR\/X \u2014 the trio of EJAE, Audrey Nuna and REI AMI (the singing voices of the film\u2019s characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;is the Billboard 200\u2019s first No. 1 soundtrack in three-and-a-half years, since another animated film,&nbsp;<em>Encanto<\/em>, saw its companion album spend nine nonconsecutive weeks on top (Jan. 15-March 19, 2022).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notably, as&nbsp;<em>KPop Demon Hunters&nbsp;<\/em>climbs to No. 1 in its 12th week on the chart, it completes the longest wait to reach No. 1 since Toby Keith\u2019s 2008 release&nbsp;<em>35 Biggest Hits<\/em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/chart-beat\/toby-keith-35-biggest-hits-number-1-billboard-200-albums-chart-1235605907\/\">re-entered the chart at No. 1<\/a>&nbsp;on the Feb. 17, 2024-dated list, following his death that Feb. 5. The last album with a longer continuous climb to No. 1 than&nbsp;<em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;was The Kid LAROI\u2019s&nbsp;<em>F*ck Love<\/em>, which jumped 26-1 in its 53rd consecutive chart week, on the Aug. 7, 2021, list. The latter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/the-kid-laroi-f-love-number-one-billboard-200-albums-chart\/\">vaulted to No. 1<\/a>&nbsp;following two reissues during that tracking week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meawhile, the last soundtrack to take a longer journey to No. 1 was&nbsp;<em>O Brother, Where Art Thou?<\/em>, which&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/music-news\/grammy-surge-pushes-o-brother-to-the-top-76475\/\">rose 2-1<\/a>&nbsp;in its 63rd continuous week on the chart, on the March 23, 2002-dated list. Its ascent to the top was aided by its Grammy Award win for album of the year at the 44th annual ceremony that Feb. 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus,&nbsp;<em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;spent seven nonconsecutive weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 before reaching No. 1. That\u2019s the longest wait an album endured in the runner-up spot before leading the Billboard 200 in nearly a half-century: In October-November 1977, Linda Ronstadt\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Simple Dreams<\/em>&nbsp;logged nine weeks at No. 2 before topping the chart at last. (Stray Cats\u2019&nbsp;<em>Built for Speed<\/em>&nbsp;holds the record for the most weeks peaking at No. 2: 15 in 1982-83.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also in the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/justin-bieber\/\">Justin Bieber<\/a>\u2019s&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;vaults 17-4 following its deluxe expansion with 23 additional tracks, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/sombr\/\">sombr<\/a>\u2019s&nbsp;<em>I Barely Know Her<\/em>&nbsp;reaches the top 10 for the first time, rising 12-10 in its third week, following the artist\u2019s performance on the&nbsp;<em>MTV Video Music Awards<\/em>&nbsp;(Sept. 7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid\/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Sept. 20, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on\u00a0<em>Billboard<\/em>\u2018s website on Sept. 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of&nbsp;<em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>\u2019 128,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 103,000 (up less than 1%, equaling 141.08 million on-demand official streams of the set\u2019s tracks \u2014 it rises 2-1 on Top Streaming Albums for its first week on top), album sales comprise 23,000 (up 56%; it\u2019s pushed down 3-4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 7%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the tracking week, the soundtrack got a boost from its deluxe reissue as a digital download and streaming album on Sept. 5 with 23 additional tracks. The additional cuts are mostly sing-along, instrumental and a cappella versions of the album\u2019s hit songs. The album\u2019s sales gain was aided by the wide release of its standard 12-track CD to brick-and-mortar retailers. It is available in five CD variants, each containing a poster and randomized photocard. A vinyl release for the project is expected Oct. 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;premiered on June 20 in a limited theatrical release in the U.S. (in three movie theaters), and on Netflix, alongside its soundtrack. The film returned to theaters, this time nationwide, for a limited engagement on Aug. 23-24 as a sing-along version. The same sing-along version hit Netflix on Aug. 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the tracking week ending Sept. 7, the animated film was No. 2 in its 12th week on Netflix\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/top10\/united-states?week=2025-09-07\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Top 10 Movies in United States chart<\/a>, with four of those weeks at No. 1. The movie now stands as the most&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/tudum\/articles\/kpop-demon-hunters-most-popular-netflix-film\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">popular original Netflix film to date<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;is the seventh animated film soundtrack to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200, since the list began publishing on a regular weekly basis in March 1956. It follows&nbsp;<em>Encanto<\/em>&nbsp;(nine weeks at No. 1, 2022),&nbsp;<em>Frozen II<\/em>&nbsp;(one week, 2019),&nbsp;<em>Frozen<\/em>&nbsp;(13, 2014), Jack Johnson\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Curious George<\/em>&nbsp;(one, 2006),&nbsp;<em>Pocahontas<\/em>&nbsp;(one, 1995) and&nbsp;<em>The Lion King<\/em>&nbsp;(10, 1994-95).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>KPop Demon Hunters<\/em>&nbsp;ends a dry spell for soundtracks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It\u2019s been three years and six months since&nbsp;<em>Encanto<\/em>&nbsp;spent its ninth and final week atop the list (dated March 19, 2022). That\u2019s the longest the chart has gone without a soundtrack at No. 1 since the three-year and nearly eight-month gap between the second and final week at No. 1 for&nbsp;<em>Armageddon<\/em>&nbsp;(July 25, 1998) and the first of two weeks at No. 1 for&nbsp;<em>O Brother, Where Art Thou?<\/em>&nbsp;(March 23, 2002).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Back on the latest Billboard 200,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/sabrina-carpenter\/\">Sabrina Carpenter<\/a>\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Man\u2019s Best Friend<\/em>&nbsp;falls to No. 2 with 119,000 equivalent album units earned (down 68%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/artist\/morgan-wallen\/\">Morgan Wallen<\/a>\u2019s chart-topping&nbsp;<em>I\u2019m the Problem<\/em>&nbsp;is a non-mover at No. 3 with 98,000 (down 6%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justin Bieber\u2019s&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;surges 17-4 with 80,000 equivalent album units (up 223%) after it was surprise reissued in a deluxe edition as a digital download and streaming album on Sept. 5 with 23 additional tracks. The deluxe edition is dubbed&nbsp;<em>SWAG II<\/em>&nbsp;and contains the original&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;album\u2019s 21 tracks, along with an additional 23 bonus tracks. The original&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;album was also a surprise affair, arriving on July 11 with little notice; it debuted at its No. 2 best. All versions of&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;are combined for tracking and charting purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;also gets an assist from the release of the standard 21-track album\u2019s release on CD and via two deluxe CD boxed sets (each containing a branded T-shirt and a copy of the standard&nbsp;<em>SWAG<\/em>&nbsp;album).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alex Warren\u2019s&nbsp;<em>You\u2019ll Be Alright, Kid<\/em>&nbsp;is a non-mover at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with 38,000 equivalent album units earned (up less than 1%). SZA\u2019s chart-topping&nbsp;<em>SOS<\/em>&nbsp;climbs 9-6 (just over 33,000, down 2%), Wallen\u2019s former leader&nbsp;<em>One Thing at a Time<\/em>&nbsp;dips 6-7 (33,000, down 6%), Stray Kids\u2019 chart-topping&nbsp;<em>KARMA<\/em>&nbsp;falls 4-8 (32,000, down 49%), and Gunna\u2019s&nbsp;<em>The Last Wun<\/em>&nbsp;falls 8-9 (31,000, down 10%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Closing out the top 10 is sombr\u2019s debut studio album&nbsp;<em>I Barely Know Her<\/em>, which rises 12-10 in its third week on the chart \u2014 and its first week in the top 10. The set earned 29,000 equivalent album units in the latest tracking week (up 5%). The rise comes after sombr performed a medley of the album\u2019s \u201cBack to Friends\u201d and \u201c12 to 12\u201d on the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on CBS on Sept. 7. Prior to the album\u2019s ascent to the top 10, its singles \u201cBack to Friends\u201d and \u201cUndressed\u201d both hit the top 30 of the Hot 100 and the top 20 of the all-genre Streaming Songs chart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>It\u2019s free&nbsp;<\/em>Billboard<em>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/t\/charts\/\">charts<\/a>&nbsp;month! Through Sept. 30, subscribers to&nbsp;<\/em>Billboard\u2019<em>s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/t\/chart-beat\/\">Chart Beat<\/a>&nbsp;newsletter, emailed each Friday, can unlock access to&nbsp;<\/em>Billboard<em>\u2019s weekly and historical charts, artist chart histories and all Chart Beat stories simply by visiting the newly redesigned&nbsp;Billboard.com&nbsp;through any story link in the newsletter. Not a Chart Beat subscriber?&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/cloud.email.billboard.com\/signup\/\"><em>Sign up for free here<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: billboard.com<\/p>\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-4679\" data-postid=\"4679\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-4679 themify_builder themify_builder_front\">\r\n\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n<!-- \/themify_builder_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Plus: Justin Bieber&#8217;s\u00a0SWAG\u00a0surges to the top five after its deluxe reissue and sombr&#8217;s\u00a0I Barely Know Her\u00a0hits the top 10. The soundtrack to\u00a0Netflix\u2019s animated film\u00a0KPop Demon Hunters\u00a0hits No. 1 on the\u00a0Billboard 200\u00a0albums chart for the first time, rising 2-1 on the chart dated Sept. 20, after seven nonconsecutive weeks in the runner-up slot. The set earned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-now","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","no-post-comment","no-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/kpop-demon-hunters-billboard-1800.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4679"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4682,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4679\/revisions\/4682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicnow.iprorecords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}